The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
A photocopier
And Yellow Magic Orchestra
I'm just monkeying around with your furniture
You're losing, you're losing
Your bodily fluids
I got so, I got so, so monosyllabic
Your butchered your setlist
With vocal gymnastics
You swagger
As if you're the hub of their universe
You're off your, you're off your
You're off your bleeding rocker
I'm just monkeying around with your furniture
I'm just monkeying around with your furniture
A photocopier and Yellow Magic Orchestra
And we were just pretending to be Japanese
Yeah we were just pretending to be Japanese
We were just pretending to be Japanese
We were just pretending to be Japanese, yeah
Got to, got to, got to, got to
Sticky sticky uh uh
I flatten your stomach
Like Joseph Pilates
Or scientific discoveries
On lab rats and monkeys
And we were just pretending to be Japanese
Yeah we were just pretending to be Japanese
A grubby little mud with an infant's thesaurus
Je m'appelle David, avez-vous fait un photocopier?
You're off your, you're off your
You're off your bleeding rocker
I'm just monkeying around with your furniture
A photocopier hunts your low magic orchestra
I collected a cappellas and I filed them into genres
April's wearing black, sucking July in the kitchen
I got a slow, a slow, a slow metabolism
The singer of Chicago in 'Electra Glide in Blue'
Legs flapping like the gullwings to heterosexuals
You got me, you got me, barking like a dog yeah
Sticky, sticky, sticky uh uh
Got to got to got to get
Got to got to got to get it from uh uh
Got to got to got to get it from uh huh
We got to uh uh
We got to got to get it from uh uh
Sticky, sticky uh uh
Sticky, sticky uh uh
Sticky, sticky, sticky uh uh
Sticky, sticky, sticky uh uh
Sticky, sticky, sticky uh uh
And Yellow Magic Orchestra
I'm just monkeying around with your furniture
You're losing, you're losing
Your bodily fluids
I got so, I got so, so monosyllabic
Your butchered your setlist
With vocal gymnastics
You swagger
As if you're the hub of their universe
You're off your, you're off your
You're off your bleeding rocker
I'm just monkeying around with your furniture
I'm just monkeying around with your furniture
A photocopier and Yellow Magic Orchestra
And we were just pretending to be Japanese
Yeah we were just pretending to be Japanese
We were just pretending to be Japanese
We were just pretending to be Japanese, yeah
Got to, got to, got to, got to
Sticky sticky uh uh
I flatten your stomach
Like Joseph Pilates
Or scientific discoveries
On lab rats and monkeys
And we were just pretending to be Japanese
Yeah we were just pretending to be Japanese
A grubby little mud with an infant's thesaurus
Je m'appelle David, avez-vous fait un photocopier?
You're off your, you're off your
You're off your bleeding rocker
I'm just monkeying around with your furniture
A photocopier hunts your low magic orchestra
I collected a cappellas and I filed them into genres
April's wearing black, sucking July in the kitchen
I got a slow, a slow, a slow metabolism
The singer of Chicago in 'Electra Glide in Blue'
Legs flapping like the gullwings to heterosexuals
You got me, you got me, barking like a dog yeah
Sticky, sticky, sticky uh uh
Got to got to got to get
Got to got to got to get it from uh uh
Got to got to got to get it from uh huh
We got to uh uh
We got to got to get it from uh uh
Sticky, sticky uh uh
Sticky, sticky uh uh
Sticky, sticky, sticky uh uh
Sticky, sticky, sticky uh uh
Sticky, sticky, sticky uh uh
Lyrics submitted by jjjonatron
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I'm getting: A photocopier hunts your low-magic orchestra
I got so, I got so, some more of syllabic
you butchered your SETLIST
harp of their universe
I flatten your stomach like Joseph(?) pilates
Je m'appelle David, avez vous fait un photocopier? (My name is David, did you make a photocopier?)
So yeah, I'm not positive about the word "hunts", but it's definitely "low-magic orchestra", he just puts the accent on the second syllable. I love this song/band.
i'm hearing 'i got so, i got so, so monosyllabic'
and then later 'you got me, you got me, barking like a dog yeah'
there seem to be too many syllables in the line after 'or scientific discoveries' to be 'on lab rats and monkeys', and the same for 'legs flapping like they're wings to heterosexuals'...but i can't work out what else it could be.
i also think maybe 'grubby little mod' not 'mud'? but it could just be the pronounciation.
i adore this song.
I believe he says: "You got me BARKING like a dog yeah"
i think the lab rats/monkeys parts works, but i changed they're wings to the gullwings, it sound more right?
Well here are the lyrics as I know them (parts I couldn't figure out have been left out)
A photocopier and Yellow Magic Orchestra I'm just monkeying around with your furniture You're losing, you're losing your bodily fluids I got so, I got so, so monosyllabic
You butchered your set list with vocal gymnastics You swagger as if you're the hub of their universe You're off your, you're off your, you're off your bleeding rocker I'm just monkeying around with your furniture
I'm just monkeying around with your furniture A photocopier and Yellow Magic Orchestra
And we were just pretending to be japanese Yeah we were just pretending to be japanese We were just pretending to be japanese We were just pretending to be japanese yeah
I'll flatten your stomach like Joseph Pilates Scientific discoveries (inaudible) monkeys And we were just pretending to be japanese Yeah we were just pretending to be japanese
A grubby little mod with an infant's thesaurus Je m'appelle David, avez-vous un photocopieur? You're off your, you're off your, you're off your bleeding rocker I'm just monkeying around with your furniture
A photocopier and Yellow Magic Orchestra I collected a capellas and I filed them into genres April's wearing black, sucking July in the kitchen I got a slow a slow a slow metabolism
The singer of Chicago in Electra Glide in Blue (inaudible) heterosexuals You got me, you got me barking like a dog, yeah
I think so too!
but why would it be yellow magic orchestra, the rest of the song is about shitty bands, hence 'low magic' ?? of course, their lyrics don't necessarily make a lot of sense, but "a photocopier and yellow magic orchestra" just doesn't seem right to me
this comment is dumb, Yellow Magic Orchestra, duhhhh